Right time, Wrong Side – new label kicks off with We Were Wolves release

Jason Stowell, left, and Christopher Garza look over a kitchen table full of records. Working out of thier homes, the duo recently began their own record label dubbed the Wrong Side of Texas Records. Guiseppe Barranco/cat5

Records, sleeves and bottles of Shiner and Brewer’s Choice are scattered across a West End dining room table as Jason Stowell and Christopher Garza recall the early days of their friendship.

Stowell, 33, works in safety at a local chemical plant. Garza, 32, is a buyer. When Garza showed up at a plant safety meeting in a T-shirt featuring the logo for NBC’s “The Office,” well, “that was it,” he said.

Talk of Must See TV turned to a discussion about comic books and music.

“We discovered by accident that we had similar taste in both,” Stowell said. “We’re both vinyl freaks.”

Fast forward a couple years and Stowell and Garza sit surrounded by multi-color 7-inch records, finishing each other’s sentences as they sip craft beer. That chance meeting at a refinery led to a close friendship that led to something even bigger: a record label.

Wrong Side of Texas Records started as a pipe dream, but the 700 records stacked in Stowell’s dining room are indeed quite real.

“A lot of my friends are still trying to make a
living in art and music,” Stowell said. He rattled off a list of record labels, like Subpop, that started in somebody’s home or garage. “We thought, maybe we should just start a record label.”

And it didn’t take long to decide which band they wanted to release first.

“The first record really had to rock,” Stowell said, “’cause we gotta sell 700 records so our wives will let us make another one.”

So the duo approached a local band known for rocking quite sufficiently: We Were Wolves.

“When Chris and Jason gave us their very solid pitch, including sample packaging ideas and distribution plans, it was a solid, safe and sound idea that we were all immediately stoked about,” said Jake Hooker, bass player and vocalist for the Beaumont band that recently re-located to Houston. “Of course, we’d all like to make a profit, but these records are a labor of love for Wrong Side and the Wolves, and that was what sealed the deal.”

Shrimpy is a product of that first meeting — and a lot of man-hours that came after. The 7-inch vinyl, which comes in a variety of colors and features album art by local tattoo apprentice Meghan Muzerie, will be released with great, booze-filled flourish at an album release party Friday night at Tequila Rok.

Stowell and Garza, neither of whom are professional musicians, are almost glowing as they describe the circumstances that led to their decision to launch a label this year.

“For a while it seemed like everybody left Beaumont to go to Austin or somewhere else to make it big,” Garza said. “But lately we’ve seen a real resurgence in art and music in the area. Things are starting to pick up. It seems like an awesome time to be around here, which is weird to say.”

Citing things like First Thursday on Calder and explosive growth in the local street food movement (and maybe the scrappy little upstart nightlife magazine that you happen to be reading currently), Garza and Stowell said starting Wrong Side of Texas Records right now seemed like a no-brainer.

“I think it was just now or never,” Garza said. “I just wanted to be involved somehow and it was a perfect opportunity to do something creative.”

After a little online shopping, they found a Nashville company to press the records. Everything after that has been on them — which means many hours of packaging, labeling and website-building.

“DIY takes a little more time than we estimated,” Stowell said sheepishly.

“But we definitely wanted to do it that way,” Garza interjected.

The records will sell for $10 each at Friday night’s show, and if you don’t have a turntable, don’t fret — each 7-inch comes with a digital download of the E.P. But, like any purist, they’d rather you listen to the record.

“Vinyl is the only way to listen to rock ‘n roll,” Stowell said. “It belongs on records.”

And with an attitude like theirs, Hooker said, it’s obvious that the Wolves belong on Wrong Side Records.

“You won’t hear anything on this record that was in any way affected by some weak-bellied record executive,” Hooker said. “As long as there are truly independent labels like Wrong Side, you’ll be able to hear what the musicians wrote, and that’s absolutely invaluable.”

So what happens after the Shrimpy release? Garza and Stowell already have their sights set on a few other local bands.

“We’re big Ramblin’ Boys fans,” Garza said. They also extolled the virtues of local three-piece Purple and Louisiana band The Pests. But none of that matters, they readily admit, unless Shrimpy sells.

But even if it doesn’t, Garza said they’re happy to have created something, to become part of a steadily growing community of self-made artists and musicians.

“At the end of the day, there’s nothing better than popping open a beer and dropping the needle,” Garza said.

I bet it feels even better when that record was released on your own label.

A tour of the Shrimpy E.P., courtesy of We Were Wolves bass player and vocalist Jake Hooker:
1. “Hodo Hada”
“‘Hodo Hada’ was recorded at Polarity Studio with James ‘Baby J’ Faust, who recorded the Lost at Sea E.P. He works well with us because he’s known us from day one,” he said. “This song was the first brainchild Vinc offered, and had finally been aged and fine tuned enough for recording. It starts strong like a rabid elk, slams you back and forth like in a Droopy cartoon, and has a clean finish with a pleasant aftertaste.”

2. “Crash and Burn”
“A product of sessions at Sugar Hill in Houston — it’s just fun,” Hooker said. “The writing was entirely collaborative, so it’s sort of the most representative of what happens when our group works together and off of each other.

“Zach’s drumbeat brings it in like a lowboy designed for rock ‘n roll transport. The bass is strangely happy and sort of funky. Vinc’s guitar adds a decadent darkness, not entirely unlike an old Scooby Doo episode. Drew’s vocals are straightforward and connect with that fiery bastard in all of us that we keep at bay, and when we all play, it’s primal and simple, then classically influenced and sinister. That fiery bastard wakes up and reminds you why you appreciate freedom.”

3. “Hell in Spades”
“Another from the Polarity sessions, it’s the only song on this record with me singing lead vocals, and there’s also a video on YouTube,” Hooker said. “The lyrics are inspired by one of Stephen King’s ‘Dark Tower’ books.

“It’s a mid-tempo steering wheel tapper influenced by cKy and Coheed & Cambria. Whether one can hear those influences, I can’t say.”

4. “No Head”
“‘No Head’ is a new recording of the song we had released on our split with Cousin Phelpy,” Hooker said. “We’ve always found it to be a really solid song, and it has evolved significantly, featuring new vocal harmonies and guitar work by Vinc, who wasn’t in the band when the split was recorded. We recorded this song at Sugar Hill Studios with Chris Longwood for our next full length album.”